Mommies and daddies, we know that school just started, and if you’re not on any Facebook group where other parents share their efforts in school meals, you’re likely out of ideas on how to make breakfast meals enjoyable while still keeping it nutritional.

Yes, we’re all actually concerned about the ingredients we pack for lunch, but breakfast remains the most important meal of the day! This year’s theme is ‘Score Big with School Breakfast’, and it’s a fun way to show parents, scholars and students all the ways that a school breakfast program is a winner.

Why? Because healthy eating and academic achievement are interrelated. Of course, finding proper diets on a low budget for your children can be a difficult task to accomplish. However, skipping breakfast is associated with decreased cognitive performance as it can impact children’s alertness, attention, memory, processing of complex visual display, and problem-solving. They need adequate consumption of specific foods, such as fruits and vegetables.

School Breakfast Week in South Africa

Most households don’t have time for proper breakfasts, as we’d typically see in American movies. There’s literally no time to prepare blueberry pancakes or bacon, eggs and toast, and if you succeed in giving your family this every morning, we take our hat off…

But for the rest, how do we succeed in giving our kiddos a breakfast that’s packed with nourishment? It’s all about creating a habit, one which will benefit all the family members. Encourage everyone to get up an hour earlier in the mornings to prepare breakfast together, even if it’s just Weet-bix and a fruit. Or if you’re a pro-active individual, involve the family to prepare everything in the evening. Here you have options such as egg muffins filled with spinach, tomato and cheese, scones, croissants, etc.

This way, your family will be inclusive and help you decide what to make because they’ll give insight into what they want to eat and won’t end up with a surprise. Also, extra family time…Bonus! The other benefit from this is to teach your children about ingredients used and their benefits to the human body.

Try to introduce a new breakfast item and ask your family to come up with unique names. Make breakfast fun! Prepare breakfasts from foreign countries, decorate the serving area accordingly, or come up with a lingo your family shares, such as ‘it’s crunch time’ for cereal, ‘just dough it’ for baked goods or ‘stacked up’ for pancakes.

Plan ahead and make use of our DIY menu board. Dive into exciting ideas for breakfast that your kids will love, from egg and cheese omelettes, Nutella and banana sushi, to easy breakfast wraps. Inspire other parents to do the same by posting your creative ideas on your community WhatsApp group or your local social pages or groups using #SchoolBreakfastWeek. This doesn’t have to only last a week; keep up with it, create your own hashtag and start a healthy movement.

Happy School Breakfast Week (1 March to 5 March 2021), all. Have fun!